Irving Rachlin

Lawyer, Historian

November 03, 1991

Irving I. Rachlin of New Britain, who wrote a history of the Jewish community in New Britain and had been past president of the New Britain Chapter of the Zionist Organization of America, died Sunday in his home. He was 97.

Rachlin came to the United States in 1907 and settled in New Britain, where he attended local schools.

He graduated from New York University Law School in 1917.

A U.S. Army veteran of World War I, Rachlin was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1917, and was a judge in New Britain. He actively practiced law until his retirement in 1989.

He was a member of the New Britain Bar Association, the Hartford County Bar Association, the Connecticut Bar Association, B'nai B'rith and the Jewish War Veterans. He was a past president of Temple B'nai Israel and a member of the Tephereth Israel Synagogue in New Britain. He served as first chairman and an active leader in the New Britain Israel Bonds campaign.

Rachlin was an incorporator of the American Savings Bank in New Britain and was on the finance board in New Britain.

Rachlin had been active in real estate and had owned several landmark buildings in New Britain.